A. Field of Invention
This invention generally relates to methods and apparatuses concerning tire treads and more specifically relates to methods and apparatuses concerning a tire tread having a visually observable tread wear indicator.
B. Description of the Related Art
As a tire's tread wears away, the ability to maintain traction diminishes in wet or snow covered roads. Once the tread is worn beyond a certain tread depth, the groove voids become sufficiently small that the tire should be replaced to maintain adequate traction. It is thus well known to provide tire treads with a tread wear indicator (TWI) to indicate how much of the tread is worn. One example of a TWI is provided in Pub. No. US2009/0095388 titled TIRE TREAD WITH TREAD WEAR INDICATOR which is incorporated herein by reference.
While known TWIs generally work well for their intended purpose, there is a need for an improved TWI that provides a unique symbol that indicates tread wear status at multiple depths.